Vietnam Government Approves Keppel/BaSon Joint Venture Shipyard

The Vietnamese government has approved a joint venture between Keppel and BaSon Shipyard of Vietnam to provide general shiprepair, shipbuilding and steel fabrication services in the region. Keppel BaSon Shipyard & Engineering Ltd. (Keppel BaSon) is expected to commence operations in the first half of 1994.

The joint venture is incorporated in Vietnam with a paid-up capital of $4.4 million. Keppel owns 60 percent of the shareholding, BaSon the remaining 40 percent.

The new company will repair and build ships for foreign and Vietnamese shipowners. It will also provide steel fabrication and engineering services to support the growing industrial development of Vietnam as well as the country's active gas and oil industry. Keppel BaSon will operate from a 9.9-acre site belonging to BaSon Shipyard, including a slipway and three docks comprising one drydock of 17,000-dwt capacity and two floating docks of 20,000-dwt and 5,000-dwt capacity.

The new company also intends to develop its own facilities such as workshops, cranes, fabrication yards and building berths for vessels up to about 328 ft. (100 meters) long. BaSon Shipyard is one ofthe largest shiprepair enterprises in Vietnam. Operating a 64.2-acre yard in Ho Chi Minh City on the Saigon River, it has a workforce of about 2,500 workers and is equipped with three docks, a slipway, as well as a wharf and workshop facilities capable of repairing vessels up to 20,000 dwt. For more information on Keppel BaSon, Circle 122 on Reader Service Card